Sand Jinchūriki. Puppet Master Ryun!
To the Sand Kaito, Hantai and Shippū were floating through the sky, comfortable on Hantai's cloud of petals, overlooking the rocky terrain. The wind was blowing, though it was by no means a refreshing breeze. Shippū, as usual, was asleep. Hantai sighed as she looked at him. "One of these days, I'll make him more energetic." She said, frowning. Kaito smiled for a moment, thinking that such a task would definitely be impossible. "So, why exactly are we headed to Iwa anyway?" Hantai asked, looking around the area. Kaito turned to look at her. "I've been hearing rumors Jinchūriki out here. He has the One-Tail. Perhaps he can help me with completely mastering the Nine-Tails." "Completely mastering?" Hantai asked. "I though that was the point of your training in the Island Turtle." "I thought so as well." Kaito sighed. "But I still can't use the Nine-Tails' full state. So I figured only a Jinchūriki can help me with that." "I see." Hantai replied. "Well, we're about to land right outside the Iwagakure border." The cloud descended at that moment, and they jumped off. "So, where do we start looking for the Jinchūriki?" Ryun was alone in the mountains doing some training of his own. The mountains were cold and frigid, making the training that much more annoying, but Ryun knew he needed it. "Alright, once more in there..." Ryun said, speaking in his mind; seemingly to himself. "Ryun, give it a break already." came the voice of the Shukaku. "We've been at this for hours." "Shut it...!" Ryun barked, "Look, you and I have come along way in the years since I first mastered your chakra, but we need more team cooperation. You're more than just a mass of chakra sitting around for me to use. You're a tailed beast and I'm a jinchūriki. Its necessary for us to work together." "Fine..." Shukaku mumbled, giving up the argument. And so the two went on training, causing an explosion every now and then, which rang out through the mountains. "There's a dead giveaway." Hantai said dryly, looking over to the source of the explosions. She actually picked up Shippū, who was still asleep, and slung him over her back. "It's not that far off either. S'long as those explosions are frequent, we should find that Jinchūriki." Kaito nodded and they took off, ascending the mountains to where the explosions were coming from. Hantai had been right, it wasn't that far off. As they reached their destination, another explosion nearly threw them off. Kaito looked around, and saw what appeared to be a young man, with sand swirling around him. "That must be the Jinchūriki." Hantai said as she caught up with him. Ryun panted from the work he had put out. "Now then....new technique time." he said, putting his hands together in the form of a tiger seal. Chakra gathered at his hand, first turning white, and then black. He focused hard on it, but in the end it only exploded once more. "You'll never get it down." Shukaku said, sounding annoyed. "That jutsu is impossible for a human to create without being in Tailed beast form. Adding seals to it might help you keep the form down, but it'll never stabilize." "I have to perfect it." Ryun shot back. "Its the jinchūriki's ultimate move in tailed beast chakra mode, so I have to use it outside of that mode in order to prove my mastery of the tailed beast within me." "It has nothing to do with control-''" he began, but was abruptly cut off by Ryun jolting up. "We have company." Ryun noted, looking to the sky. "''Those headbands..." Using his sand, Ryun fired a jet of sand up into the air, controlling it so that it would whip the newcomer off of their petal suspension. Hantai created and crew jumped from the petal clodu, landing neatly on a cushion of petals. "Watch it!' Hantai cried, glaring at Ryun. "Tryin' to kill us?" "Sand?" Before Ryun could answer, Kaito spoke. "You're the Jinchūriki, aren't you?" The Jinchūriki of One and Nine Ryun looked on apathetically towards the newcomers. How could he have been so stupid? They weren't dangerous at all. Still, what were they doing so close to his village? Then there was the one in the middle, the one who had spoke to him. He knew that he was a Jinchūriki? Is the sand such a dead giveaway? "So what if I'm a jinchūriki? Who wants to know?" Ryun asked. "Kaito Hiroki, the Jinchūriki of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox." Kaito replied. "I've come because I need your help with something." "The Nine-Tails?" Ryun repeated, letting the information fully sink in. "Oh boy, my kitsune brother..." Shukaku moaned from within Ryun. "Wonderful, its a family reunion." Ryun muttered, shaking his head. "What kinda help are we talking about here?" Kaito sighed. "Mastering the full beast form. I can't get it right, no matter how hard I try. So I figured you could help." Suddenly a glint of light appeared in Ryun's eyes. His otherwise featureless face seemed to light up, as if inspiration had come to him. "Oh, that." he replied more cheerfully. Shukaku let out a short, muffled laugh, "Good luck with that. Nine-Tails is never a happy camper." Ryun rolled his eyes; his tailed beast was incredibly obnoxious. "Sure kid, I'll train you. A word of warning though, its going to be tough, and you may get very frustrated. The Nine-Tails is one tough customer. I don't expect him to work with us right away." he said. "You'll train me?" Kaito was surprised. He had expected he'd have to bargain. "Thank you. But, you haven't introduced yourself." "Oh right, where are my manners?" Ryun asked himself, smacking his forehead in embarrassment. "I'm Ryun, formerly of Sunagakure, now of Iwagakure. As you may have guessed by now, I'm the jinchūriki of the One-Tailed Shukaku." "So...how do we begin, Ryun-san?" Kaito asked, glad that he was finally going to gain some power. The Training Commences Ryun crossed his arms again, "Right. Well, lets start with the basics. I need you to explain to me the degree of control you have over your beast and its chakra." he said. Kaito cleared his throat. "I've only recently managed to pull the Fox's chakra from it's will. But I'm a fast study, and so I'm able to use the Nine-Tail's Cloak in Version 1, and Version 2. I think I'm pretty well skilled with the Fox's chakra." Ryun started to speak, but the Shukaku butted in to remind him of something. "Remember the chakra trade stage. He's probably unaware that is what he's going through right now." it said. Ryun nodded silently, "Right then, lend me some of your chakra and I'll demonstrate for him." "Coming right up!" it replied. Ryun clapped his hands together and suddenly lit up with an orangeish-yellow chakra, which had the patters of the Shukaku visible on it. "This is tailed beast chakra mode. I like this mode better than the tailed transformations simply because it condenses them into one form. Regardless of what mode you're in, be it Version 1, 2, or tailed beast chakra mode, you have to trade chakra with the Nine-Tails. You no longer have to negotiate with it to use its chakra, but when you chose to do so, you shelf you 'Kaito-chakra' and use 'Nine-Tails chakra'. During the time you're using the beast's chakra, it's sucking up your own chakra. If you hit zero, that's it, you're done; say hello to the pearly gates." Ryun explained. "That being said, when you've tamed the beast, as I have, you usually negotiate how much chakra you will each give and then run on that; meaning its not life threatening anymore. Are you understanding me so far?" he asked. "Yes, I understand you. But the Nine-Tails isn't exactly the negotiation type." Kaito replied sadly. "I've rather experienced that firsthand." Ryun released his form, returning to normal. "I figured as much. Shukaku and I were once the same way. Negotiation comes with trust. Shukaku and I are partners. We need each other for survival. You have to become like that with the Nine-Tails. You have to convince the beast that you need him and he needs you. I'm not saying you two will be best friends right off the bat, but eventually...you just might." At this point the Shukaku was rolling in laughter within the confines of Ryun's mind, "Hahahahha, the Nine-Tails, friendly? He has a better chance of convincing a rock to fly!" it bellowed. Ryun snarled, but didn't respond. He knew the odds were slim. "Resuming what I was saying, I have an idea that might speed up that process, but you might get hurt. You up for it?" Ryun asked. Kaito thought about it for a moment. Mastering the Kyūbi's chakra at the risk of some physical pain? It didn't seem too bad. "Alright. I'm up for it." He said, wondering why Ryun had snarled. Ryun smirked slightly, "Ready for some fun, partner?" he asked the beast. Shukaku leaped up from its usual lazy position of lying down in his mind, and smacked its paws together, "Heck ya! Let me loose!" it squealed in excitement. "I'm going to transform completely into my beast. Then...its going to fight you. Of course it will probably beat you within an inch of your life, but that's what you want. Once the Nine-Tails sees that its either live or die, it'll have to cooperate with you. Try showing it some kindness and it may do it more often." Ryun explained. Then, with his hands clapped together once more, Ryun's body grew and morphed into that of the One-Tailed beast. Kaito vs Shukaku "Oh shit...I'm fucked." Kaito thought as he saw the Tailed Beast forming. Hantai's eyes widened. "If you don't mind Kaito, I'm going to move as far away from here as possible." With that, she jumped onto a cloud of petals, taking off. Kaito clapped his hands together, calling on the Nine-Tails' chakra. He immediately transformed into his Version 1 Three-Tailed State. As he felt the power surge, his visible eye became red and slitted, his claws and fangs lengthening, and the chakra cloak enveloped him. "That won't be enough!" Shukaku bellowed. It then inhaled a great amount of air, " !" A massive amount of sand and wind were then exhaled by the large tanuki, devastating the surrounding area. The chakra cloak had protected Kaito from the brunt of the damage, but that wind had taken it's toll, sending multiple objects his way which damaged him. He used a to grab a boulder and launch it at the Shukaku, aiming at it's forehead. The Shukaku allowed the blow to strike him directly in the head, however, it didn't seem to hurt him. The boulder simply got sucked into the sand-body and then shot back out at faster speeds than it had originally been launched. The boulder hit square on, sending waves of pain into Kaito's body. He recovered quickly enough to move, running towards the Shukaku, and jumping up, placing both of his arms behind him, then swinging them up and slamming them down, two chakra arms hurtling down towards the Shukaku's head. Shukaku blocked the strike with one of its gigantic paws, and then, with the other, sent an immense punch directly for Kaito's tiny body. The impact nearly broke Kaito's bones as the paw slammed him right into a neaaitorby mountain. But he stood up yet again, and grew a fourth tail. He crouched, like a lion ready to pounce on it's prey, and launched himself towards the Shukaku. His goal was to act as a human torpedo, and blow a hole right through the beast, "He's about spent." Ryun said from his mindscape. "Show him that move, but keep it at low power. We don't want to kill him." Shukaku gathered raw chakra at its mouth, spinning it and forming wind gusts around it. After condensing the chakra sphere in its mouth, it fired the attack directly at the oncoming Kaito; a Tailed Beast Ball. A low powered one, but a Tailed Beast Ball nonetheless. As the Tailed Beast Ball enveloped him, Kaito's eyes widened and an unmistakable scream of pain escaped his mouth. The next thing he knew, he was once again floating inside the breathable water of his own mindscape, facing the Nine-Tails, who was still trapped inside the water cage. While he had been emaciated when Kaito had drawn the chakra from him, he seemed to have recovered his former appearance fairly quickly. "Nine-Tails." Kaito was the first to break the silence. "You know what's happening out there. I'm going to die, and so are you." The Nine-Tails growled menacingly, but only briefly. "Let me tap into your full power. I can release this pointless cage that surrounds you if you'll just cooperate." Kaito insisted. The Nine-Tails growled as it spoke. "I'll cooperate with you. Just this once." Kaito smiled at these words. "Now remove the cage." Kaito did so as he returned to the real world. He stood up, glaring at the Shukaku, and placed his hands together. His body began to enlarge, and it transformed, becoming that of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. Training: Part 2 Ryun regained his dominance, while retaining the full-Shukaku form. "Excellent. Looks like you got ol' Scrooge to give in a bit." he said through Shukaku's mouth. "Now its time for the real training. You've got to learn the Tailed beast's ultimate move. Have you heard of it?" Ryun asked. "No, but if I had to guess, I'd say it was that massive energy blast that knocked me out." Kaito spoke through the Kyūbi's voice, and he found it strange. The voice was different, and speaking in a non-human body felt different as well. "Yep, you've got it. The Tailed Beast Ball. In full beast form, you gather raw chakra in your mouth and condense it into a sphere, then let it rip as a giant blast wave." Ryun explained. "That sounds too simple. There must be more to it than simply gathering, compressing, and launching chakra." "Smart kid, there is some difficulty to it. You need to keep an steady amount of black and white chakra. A ratio of 8:2 should do it, but don't think it'll be too easy." Ryun replied. "I never though it would be, since I'm not the numbers type." Kaito replied. "Care to give me a demonstration?" Ryun, still in the full-Shukaku form, turned to face a far off mountain. Suddenly, a black sphere of chakra gathered at his mouth, condensing into a smaller form before launching towards the mountain. A large explosion followed, and once cleared, the mountain ceased to exist. "Whoa.." Kaito was surprised to see the actual techniques power. When he had been hit, it knocked him out, and when he had awoken, he hadn't pay much attention to the surroundings it had destroyed. "So that's the Tailed Beast Ball." Kaito murmured, though due to his form it was clearly audible. He arched his head back, and his tails all shot up. He began to gather both white and black chakra over his mouth. However, it felt unbalanced, and no sooner did he acknowledge this than the ball exploded on him. Ryun chuckled, "Told you. Such condensed chakra is extremely heavy. Not to mention, you're ratio was off. That was probably a 10:1. You might ask the Nine-Tails for advice. It'd help strengthen your ties with it at least." Kaito closed his eyes for a moment, and he was in his human form, floating in the water. The Nine-Tails was out of his cage, as per their agreement. "You're back?" The Fox asked, though it's tone was a little less hostile than before. "What is it you want this time?"'' Kaito was surprised at this. With the Fox unrestrained, he'd have thought it would have attacked him by now. He was just floating there, defenseless and human. "I need you to show me how to form a Tailed Beast Ball." '''"You're trying to learn that?" The Fox nearly laughed. "You haven't a hope." "Maybe you can show me?" Kaito asked. "Take control of the body and use it yourself. I'll remember the feeling and could learn it that way." The Fox was surprised at this. "And who's to say I won't maintain control over your body if you go through with this?" "I'm trusting you." Kaito replied simply. The Fox was silent for a moment. "Alright. I'll show you." Back in the real world, Kaito's fox body began to stir. "A warning." The Fox said to Ryun. "Move." Ryun did as he was told, leaping out of the way. The Fox arched it's head backward, and it's tails upward, as it began gathering black and white chakra to form a ball above it's mouth. Unlike Kaito's, this ball was very stable, and it began to shrink, as the Fox swallowed it. There was a moment of silence with the Fox's mouth smoking, before he let the Tailed Beast Ball loose. It torpedoed across the ground, until it collided with a nearby mountain. The explosion was a sight to see, as it erased not only the mountain, but a good amount of forest away from the area, leaving a large crater. The Fox's personality began to recede back into Kaito's body, and Kaito resurfaced. "Remember how that felt." The Fox said. "If you can remember that, you should be able to perfect the technique." "I thought you said I didn't have a hope." "I've changed my opinion." Kaito breathed in. "Alright...this time, I'm going to get it." He arched his head back, and the tails assumed position, He began gathering the chakra, altering it as needed until he felt the attack feel as it had when the fox performed it. Then, without warning, he let it fire. The blast tore straight through the ground, flying until it collided with an object which stopped it, into this case, the side of a mountain. As the blast hit the mountain, it was completely and utterly erased. End